Michaud's campaign contributions have taken quite a hit as he is no longer running for re-election. You would think that running for a promotion would have more contributions but that is not the case for Michaud.

Abortion
2010: received a 100% rating by the NARAL Pro Choice America. When he first ran for Congress, he was considered pro-life, receiving a 10% rating by NARAL Pro Choice America. He voted no on banning federal health care coverage that includes abortion. He voted yes to establish stem cell research. He also voted no on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. He was the only freshman Democratic member of Congress in 2003 to vote for banning partial birth abortions.
Determination: Pro-choice

Animal Welfare
Michaud voted no on H.R. 3824 which would have deauthorized the critical habitat for endangered species including recovery plans for those who are endangered. He has been a co-sponsor of the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act (introduced by my former boss and worked on by my former supervisor). This bill tries to prohibit those who try to breed or possess big cats. He has voted to limit dog breeders to kennels of 50 dogs and to strengthen penalties for animal fighting. Because of his efforts, he was given a 75% grade by the Humane Society.

Budget
Michaud is a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. The Blue Dog Coalition attempts to cut unnecessary government spending. Michaud voted for the Budget Control Act, in an attempt to reduce the deficit. As the Defense Authorization Bill passed the house, Rep. Michaud criticized the bill stating that the bill spends too much money on defense. The money was above the caps that was put forth in the Budget Control Act. Michaud did vote for the bailouts and all stimulus spending. Michaud repeatedly stated that he did not want to keep the Bush tax cuts permanent and has supported ending tax cuts for the wealthy. He often claimed that the tax cuts for the wealthy will hurt the most vulnerable in Maine. He has stated that he wants to eliminate the Disabled Veterans tax. He would like to reform the estate tax, up to earning $6 million for a couple should be exempt and $3 million for an individual. Michaud believes that government spending can help stimulate the economy and create jobs. He supported H.R. 5297 in 2010, the Small Business Jobs Act expanded lending to small businesses by leveraging $300 billion in private sector lending for small businesses, provided tax incentives for small businesses and established state grants for small business lending. He has also voted against the Ryan budget which is the cornerstone of the Republican budget plans.

Civil Rights
Michaud was given a 100% rating by the Human Rights Campaign, indicating a pro-gay rights stance. He voted no on a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. He also voted no on a Constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. He is a co-sponsor of H.R. 1755 the Employee Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 which would prohibit employer discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. He voted to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He believes that it is up to the states to determine if they want to recognize same sex marriage. He was a co-sponsor of H.R. 3485 in the 112th Congress which would have provided benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. He is also a co-sponsor of H.R. 1652, the Student Non-Discrimination Act that attempts to end discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools. He also voted yes to enforcing against anti-gay hate crimes.

He voted to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act. He supported the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a treaty that affirms the principles of fundamental human rights and equality for women. The United States is one of only seven countries that have not ratified the treaty. He has supported the re-introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. He
also has supported efforts to enforce against wage discrimination
based on gender.

He
was received an 89% rating from the NAACP, which indicates a
pro-affirmitve action rating.

He
voted "No" on an effort to "protect" the Pledge
of Allegiance. He voted to send the decision of whether the
word "God" should be in the Pledge of Allegiance to the
Courts. He did vote "yes" on a Constitutional
Amendment that attempted to prohibit flag burning.

He
voted against making the PATRIOT Act permanent and voted against
re-authorizing the PATRIOT Act in 2011. He voted to require
FISA warrants for wiretaps in the US. He voted no on allowing
electronic surveillance without a warrant. These votes seem to
indicate that he is against much of the PATRIOT Act; however, he
voted to continue intelligence gathering without civil oversight.

Corporations

Rep. Michaud voted for H.R. 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act which attempted to give shareholders a vote on executive compensation and to prevent certain incentives in the compensation practices of financial institutions. He received a 100% rating from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, indicating a pro-labor voting record.

Crime

He has voted to create new services for offenders who are reintroduced in society. The programs ideally would be there to help offenders find jobs and stop them from getting on the wrong track.

Drugs

Michaud received a score of +10 from NORML which indicates that he has a slight drug reform stance. There has not been many efforts from Congress to reform drug laws and the few times that there are, he is not one of the leaders doing it.

Education

Rep. Michaud has been given a 100% rating from the National Education Association (NEA) which indicates pro-public education votes. He believes that No Child Left Behind has not been giving school districts and states the money that was promised. He has co-sponsored legislation that would fully fund No Child Left Behind. He also co-sponsored legislation that would fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure that children with disabilities have costs associated with their education funded.

Michaud has indicated he supports national standards and testing of public school students. He also believes that federal funding for education should greatly increase.

Environment and Energy

Michaud has been an environmental ally for most. He has consistently voted against offshore drilling and even voting to continue the offshore moratorium. During the same time, he has voted against authorizing new refineries or otherwise building new ones. Michaud voted against the Bush-Cheney National Energy policy. He has been a strong opponent of those who want to drill in the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge.

He has advocated for the EPA regulating greenhouse gas emissions and working toward a cap and trade system. Furthermore, he would support the United States signing the Kyoto protocol. He believes that climate change is at least partially man-made and we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to all of this, he voted for the Cash for Clunkers program.

The tax credits he has voted for would help to invest in biofuels, renewable energy, energy production and conservation. He has also advocated for higher fuel emission standards at the national level and at the state level. Because of this work, he received a 100% from the League of Conservation Voters in 2010.

Foreign Policy

He has not voted to restrict US funding to the United Nations. The United States is the biggest contributor to the United Nations in terms of money. He received a +2 from American Arab Institute, which indicates that he has a pro-Arab, pro-Palestine record. He has acknowledged the Turkish genocide of Armenians in the 1900s. He has publicly condemned Iran for their persecution of Baha'i. He has opposed an arms treaty that would limit the gun trade to Israel and Taiwan. He also is in favor of travel between the United States and Cuba.

He has worked to sanction Iran into ending their nuclear program. He believes that we need to prevent Iran from creating nuclear weapons instead of containing them. He believes strongly that we should enforce the sanctions that we have in place until the nuclear threat of Iran is gone.

He voted against including Iraq in the war on terror with no exit date. He voted to investigate George W. Bush for impeachment for his troop deployment in Iraq and in March 2011, he voted to remove US troops from Afghanistan.

Free Trade

Michaud has consistently voted against free trade agreements and would like to impose tariffs on countries who manipulate currency.

Gun Control

Michaud looks fairly conservative when it comes to gun control. He has not been in favor of closing the gun show loophole. He also believes that citizens should be allowed to carry concealed weapons. He co-sponsored H.R. 822 National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 which would create a national standard for conceal and carry laws or otherwise allow citizens to carry over their concealed-carry permits from one state to another. He also voted to ban gun registration and the trigger lock law in Washington, D.C. The NRA endorsed Michaud in the 2010 election.

Health care

Michaud voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act. He did support a repeal of the 1099 provision in the Affordable Care Act. He did not believe that it was perfect, necessarily, but he thought it was a good first step into implementing a universal health care system. He has voted to expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. He has voted against the Ryan budget which, in part, would repeal Obamacare and cut spending Medicare and Social Security.

Immigration

Michaud voted against building a fence along the Mexican border. He also voted against legislation that would have required hospitals to report undocumented immigrants who go for help at the hospital. He is reported to be for open borders and loosening immigration laws.

Labor

He received a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO in 2003. He voted to increase the minimum wage to $7.25. He stands for unions by trying to restrict employer interference in union organizing. He worked to allow there to be an air traffic controller union. He has endorsed unions to form by card check instead of secret ballots. He received other grades to indicate that he has pro-worker tendencies.

Tax

He received a 100% rating from Citizens for Taxation Justice indicating that he has a progressive taxation record. He has voted to end the marriage penalty and permanently increasing the child tax credit. He has voted no on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains and dividends. He also supports a permanent ban on state and local taxation of internet access.

Technology

He voted against terminating public funding for National Public Radio. He has also voted to increase fines for indecent broadcasting. He has also voted to ban credit card internet gambling.

Welfare

He voted to increase unemployment from 39 weeks to 59 weeks. In addition to that, he has voted to maintain work requirements for welfare recipients.